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PMs TAC 2015 crazy? French course mission

 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log Post Reply
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PeterMollenburg
Senior Member
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5235 days ago

821 posts - 1273 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: FrenchB1

 
 Message 209 of 451
02 November 2014 at 8:55am | IP Logged 
October summary

October was a rather ordinary month for language study hours. My least yet. Many
things mingled together to cause this but ultimately it was all within my control. I
simply allowed myself to procrastinate, or study less than usual at least, be
distracted, sleep in (I realised my 6am starts were not sustainable given some nights
I'd work later and couldn't get enough sleep consecutively), plus I would eat rubbish
food which found me not so alert and going for the sleep-ins again, plus a 10 day
break in New Zealand which lead to me only using Duolingo (decided to try it as some
family members in NZ were using to learn some Spanish) and reading random websites.
Out of 10 days I prob read some French 5 of those days. I took a book along but didn't
read much of it.

It may sound like i'm being hard on myself, which I do have a tendency to do. However,
i'm simply noting facts that lead to a loss of routine. Upon arriving home I feel like
rubbish from eating too much rubbish and my main study companion (smart-phone) has had
some major issues that's taken me over a day to fix. Now i'm set to aim for the 1000
hours mark. I've done 800hrs this year of French, I'd like to make these last 2 months
very successful and up the ante once more, but sensibly.
------------------------------------

October hours of study: 46hrs,46min
Average for month: 1hr,30min

Breakdown:
Audio only: 17hrs,41min
Course work: 8hrs,42min
Reading: 8hrs,50min
Flashcards: 5hrs,40min
Series/films: 5hrs,28min
Conversation: 25min

Super challenge:
Films (min): 198
Pages: 37
----------------
I did read a lot more than 37 pages, but this was predominantly from websites.

I had one conversation at Wellington airport while waiting to board our flight to come
home 2 days ago. I sat next to an older couple and heard them speaking French. I got
chatting. Turns out their daughter lived in Sydney (she turned up after conversation
started) and they were very friendly. They were amazed with my French, which felt
nice. I held a decent conversation with them for 25min rarely struggling with vocab or
grammar. It felt good, real good. Of course I know there are a LOT of holes in my
vocab/grammar that will hopefully fill in as I continue learning (I obviously didn't
speak words I haven't learned, nor used grammar I don't know how to use). Their
daughter from Sydney gave me her contact details and said write to me for practise,
and look me up if you come to Sydney. Her parents even said we might see you(me) again
one day, who knows - I explained I'd love to live in the south of France some day, who
knows, on sait jamais!

As a side note: I've been following all the regular logs that I usually follow, just
had little time to respond. Keep up the learning everyone!

PM
1 person has voted this message useful



luke
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6964 days ago

3133 posts - 4351 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Esperanto, French

 
 Message 210 of 451
02 November 2014 at 10:19am | IP Logged 
PeterMollenburg wrote:
I sat next to an older couple and heard them speaking French. I got chatting. Turns out their daughter lived in Sydney (she turned up after conversation started) and they were very friendly. They were amazed with my French, which felt nice. I held a decent conversation with them for 25min rarely struggling with vocab or grammar. It felt good, real good.


That is a friggin' awesome result. You are doing great! Keep up the good work.
2 persons have voted this message useful



PeterMollenburg
Senior Member
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5235 days ago

821 posts - 1273 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: FrenchB1

 
 Message 211 of 451
02 November 2014 at 11:11am | IP Logged 
luke wrote:
PeterMollenburg wrote:
I sat next to an older couple and heard them speaking French. I
got chatting. Turns out their daughter lived in Sydney (she turned up after conversation started) and they
were very friendly. They were amazed with my French, which felt nice. I held a decent conversation with them
for 25min rarely struggling with vocab or grammar. It felt good, real good.


That is a friggin' awesome result. You are doing great! Keep up the good work.


Thanks Luke, I appreciate the positive feedback. I've been keeping touch with your log as well and the main
thing drawing my attention is your consistent focused study. Good job Luke! Those most consistent in
learning (a) language(s) reap the surest results.

Power to the French fries, aka Belgian fries!
1 person has voted this message useful



Mohave
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/Mohave1
Joined 3766 days ago

291 posts - 444 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 212 of 451
02 November 2014 at 12:07pm | IP Logged 
PeterMollenburg wrote:
October summary

October was a rather ordinary month for language study hours. My least yet. Many
things mingled together to cause this but ultimately it was all within my control. I
simply allowed myself to procrastinate, or study less than usual at least, be
distracted, sleep in (I realised my 6am starts were not sustainable given some nights
I'd work later and couldn't get enough sleep consecutively), plus I would eat rubbish
food which found me not so alert and going for the sleep-ins again, plus a 10 day
break in New Zealand which lead to me only using Duolingo (decided to try it as some
family members in NZ were using to learn some Spanish) and reading random websites.
Out of 10 days I prob read some French 5 of those days. I took a book along but didn't
read much of it.

It may sound like i'm being hard on myself, which I do have a tendency to do. However,
i'm simply noting facts that lead to a loss of routine. Upon arriving home I feel like
rubbish from eating too much rubbish and my main study companion (smart-phone) has had
some major issues that's taken me over a day to fix. Now i'm set to aim for the 1000
hours mark. I've done 800hrs this year of French, I'd like to make these last 2 months
very successful and up the ante once more, but sensibly.
------------------------------------

October hours of study: 46hrs,46min
Average for month: 1hr,30min

Breakdown:
Audio only: 17hrs,41min
Course work: 8hrs,42min
Reading: 8hrs,50min
Flashcards: 5hrs,40min
Series/films: 5hrs,28min
Conversation: 25min

Super challenge:
Films (min): 198
Pages: 37
----------------
I did read a lot more than 37 pages, but this was predominantly from websites.

I had one conversation at Wellington airport while waiting to board our flight to come
home 2 days ago. I sat next to an older couple and heard them speaking French. I got
chatting. Turns out their daughter lived in Sydney (she turned up after conversation
started) and they were very friendly. They were amazed with my French, which felt
nice. I held a decent conversation with them for 25min rarely struggling with vocab or
grammar. It felt good, real good. Of course I know there are a LOT of holes in my
vocab/grammar that will hopefully fill in as I continue learning (I obviously didn't
speak words I haven't learned, nor used grammar I don't know how to use). Their
daughter from Sydney gave me her contact details and said write to me for practise,
and look me up if you come to Sydney. Her parents even said we might see you(me) again
one day, who knows - I explained I'd love to live in the south of France some day, who
knows, on sait jamais!

As a side note: I've been following all the regular logs that I usually follow, just
had little time to respond. Keep up the learning everyone!

PM

So glad to see you posting again! In fact, I checked your log a few days ago to see if you had posted and I
had
missed it. You averaged 1 1/2 hours of study a day! I find that pretty remarkable that that was your worst
month! You're home now. You will get your diet, exercise and study routines back to normal, and that will
help you feel even better! Congrats on the 25 min chat! Doesn't that feel just awesome! :)


Edited by Mohave on 02 November 2014 at 12:12pm

2 persons have voted this message useful



Jeffers
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4668 days ago

2151 posts - 3960 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German

 
 Message 213 of 451
02 November 2014 at 8:56pm | IP Logged 
That must have been a great experience, PM. It shows that your methods are working for you. I also agree that a bad month for you is pretty good for most learners! Keep it up!
2 persons have voted this message useful



Sizen
Diglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 4098 days ago

165 posts - 347 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Catalan, Spanish, Japanese, Ukrainian, German

 
 Message 214 of 451
03 November 2014 at 4:55am | IP Logged 
Your log is always a wake-up call, PM. I need to step up my game. 1:30 per day and it's
just an ordinary month! I'd be ecstatic if I managed that with Spanish. Heck, I should
put more time into my French...

Keep up the good work, man.
2 persons have voted this message useful



PeterMollenburg
Senior Member
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5235 days ago

821 posts - 1273 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: FrenchB1

 
 Message 215 of 451
03 November 2014 at 6:14am | IP Logged 
Mohave wrote:

So glad to see you posting again! In fact, I checked your log a few days ago to see if you had posted and I
had
missed it. You averaged 1 1/2 hours of study a day! I find that pretty remarkable that that was your worst
month! You're home now. You will get your diet, exercise and study routines back to normal, and that will
help you feel even better! Congrats on the 25 min chat! Doesn't that feel just awesome! :)


Thanks Mohave, I appreciate your enthusiasm with regards to my studying/log. It was great to follow your
progress in Belgique by the way.

Sizen wrote:
Your log is always a wake-up call, PM. I need to step up my game. 1:30 per day and it's
just an ordinary month! I'd be ecstatic if I managed that with Spanish. Heck, I should
put more time into my French...

Keep up the good work, man.


Cheers Sizen, I appreciate that... I must step on over to your log and see how you're doing and lend a few
words of encouragement in return :)

------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------

In relation to my hours of study....

It's strange that 1 and a half hours makes me feel out of touch considering back in 1998 when I first
attempted language study at home 1.5 hrs (of French and Spanish at that time) felt like a lot in terms of
getting a good flow and being saturated with language, and that I was learning a lot of new concepts....

I think it really depends on the language, one's approach/methods to study and the level one is at. Put it this
way 1.5hrs of Spanish would be perfect right now were I to recommence Spanish study. I wouldn't have to
deal with phonetics much (as it's phonetically much easier than French in my opinion), the language seems to
just stick easier. Whereas French 1.5hrs is not enough for me personally at the moment. Understanding the
phonetics (or at least being sure about them as I go), the seemingly roundabout way of saying things seems
to me as an English speaker strange, and of course 'logging my vocab' via the entry of flashcards slows me
down. Every hour of study lately is taken up by 30min of FC reviews. I still have a large back log to get
through, once i'm up to date I should be able to cut that time in half thereby devoting more time to actual
courses/reading etc. I'm not sure how Anki works but I have set Flashcards Deluxe to ensure every 'new card'
has 5 correct 'responses' before it even becomes an 'active card'. All in all it feels like French is slow going.
And this makes me envy those who despise FC's (I do at times) and therefore don't use them (unlike me) and
simply learn via exposure. My apprenhension in wanting to learn new words 'thoroughly' has me using
flashcards, in an attempt to ensure new words in my courses don't escape my watchful memory banks. I do
know of course than thinking Spanish would come easier is a matter of perspective too. We all know the old
saying the more you know (learn) the more you realise you don't know.

Another thing to add to the slow but steady progress is that I own a MASSIVE amount of courses in French
much more than I have in any other language. When I attempt to begin learning Spanish (again) I'll be using
one course only I think for at least 12 months. Destinos is so comprehensive I doubt I'll need much more for a
year or so, considering I have the follow on courses of the Nuevos Destinos group as well.   
----------------------------

This of course means that the language i use in conversation (like with the French couple in Wellington) is
qute thoroughly formed in my mind as far as a language learner goes, but as I'm not using terribly advanced
materials I am not really using much advanced grammar when conversing. However given my vocab is at a
guess half that or a little less of a native speaker (I estimate this by having entered over 9000 flashcards, and
having read that the average active vocab of a native English speaker is around 25,000 words). Perhaps my
active vocab is a lot less than the 9000 recorded words. Anyway, the point is my vocab should be large
enough that I can talk around things. I can use the passé composé with ease, the imperfect here and there,
and a rare spattering of future, conditional and subjunctive. What this amounts to is a 25min conversation in
which it appears I'm very well accomplished in the language, especially since I believe my accent is excellent,
but I know damn certain I'm far from native speaker ability. I'm very poor at the subjunctive, use the
subjunctive, future and conditional tenses rarely as I'm not overly comfortabe with them and i get confused
sometimes when to use the imperfect. I'm not at all concerned tho, as I know that when I begin using more
advanced materials it will fall into place (and of course speak more!). Forgive me for the seemingly arrogant
statements at times regarding my perceived good qualities in French, please try to balance it with some of my
criticisms too - this is just the way I honestly see it. I would be happy to accept criticism of aspects of my
linguistic skills that I feel are good which in fact are not in someone else's opinion.

PM

1 person has voted this message useful



PeterMollenburg
Senior Member
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5235 days ago

821 posts - 1273 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: FrenchB1

 
 Message 216 of 451
03 November 2014 at 7:05am | IP Logged 
Jeffers wrote:
That must have been a great experience, PM. It shows that your methods are working for
you. I also agree that a bad month for you is pretty good for most learners! Keep it up!


Thank you too Jeffers, it was nice to finally speak to some real live actual French ppl. I'm even considering a
trip to La Nouvelle Calédonie next year... but its by no means a low-budget destination, so we'll see. Nice pix
in your log btw. Hopefully that French restaurant turns out to be the gem from your at times disappointing trip
to London


1 person has voted this message useful



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